| Year End | 31 December |
| Accounts Published | April |
| Annual General Meeting | June |
| Dividend Paid | May |
Latest news
Update from our investment manager, Sebastiaan Berger – 1 April 2021
We are just past the 31st of March 2021, but 2020 already feels like a year ago….
After four years of Donald Trump, a global pandemic that has profoundly impacted world-wide tourism markets, a struggling Cuban economy, and conflicting views regarding the best way forward, it is impossible to deny the serious challenges ahead for Cuba. However, I do believe that better times lie ahead of us. 2021 will likely be an extremely important year for Cuba. Economic recovery will in no small measure depend on the world’s ability to control the Covid-19 pandemic, the restart of international travel and the reopening of Cuba for tourism, but may also be boosted by recently-adopted measures aimed at the overhaul of Cuba’s monetary system, the stimulation of national production and import substitution and the invigoration of the nascent private sector. On the political front, a historic moment is to take place during the 8th Congress of Cuba’s Communist Party that is scheduled to be held in Havana between 16 and 19 April 2021 when Raul Castro (age 89 years) is expected to resign as First Secretary of the Party.
For the Company, 2021 has got off to an encouraging start. On 31 March 2021 the Company announced that the issue of its €25 million 10% unsecured convertible bond was oversubscribed and that the proceeds of the issue will be used to provide finance that allows for the completion of the Meliá Trinidad Península a 400 room, beachfront hotel, in Trinidad, Cuba, and potentially also for carrying out its investment in the logistics warehouse development project of Grupo B.M. Interinvest Technologies Mariel S.L., for general corporate purposes, and for other commercial opportunities when they arise.
Key People
Sebastiaan Berger
Lead Manager
Sebastiaan A.C. Berger is a Dutch trained lawyer who has resided in Cuba since 1996. He has been assisting foreign investors in Cuba since 1996, first as founder of the Havana office of an international law firm, then as a founding partner of Berger, Young and Associates (1998). He has been the lead investment manager of CEIBA Investments Limited and Representative of the Havana Office of CEIBA Property Corporation Ltd. (CEIBA) since 2002.
Stephen Coltman
Senior Investment Manager
Stephen Coltman is a Senior Investment Manager within the Alternative Investment Strategies division at ASI. Stephen has extensive experience investing across both public and private markets and spent the majority of his formative years based in Latin America, including a 3 year period in Cuba during the 90s. Stephen is a CFA charterholder.*
* CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute
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Sebastiaan Berger
Lead Manager
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Stephen Coltman
Senior Investment Manager
Stephen Coltman is a Senior Investment Manager within the Alternative Investment Strategies division at ASI. Stephen has extensive experience investing across both public and private markets and spent the majority of his formative years based in Latin America, including a 3 year period in Cuba during the 90s. Stephen is a CFA charterholder.*
* CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are trademarks owned by CFA Institute
John Herring
Chairman
John qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1982. In 1986, John joined the corporate finance department of Kleinwort Benson, where he was involved in the IPOs on the LSE for several companies. In 1996 he established his own private equity advisory business and joined the boards of a number of public and private companies including JD Wetherspoon plc where he became deputy chairman and served as a non-executive director for 14 years. He is currently the non-executive chairman of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group Limited. John acts as a Consultant to Northview Investment Fund Limited which currently owns 32,150,544 Ordinary Shares representing 29.86 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of the Company.
Trevor Bowen
Non-Executive Director
Experienced director with over 30 years’ experience spanning across a variety of industries. Trevor spent 11 years as a partner of KPMG and 17 years managing U2 and other artists. Trevor has acted as a non-executive director on a number of boards, most notably a director on the board of Ulster Bank for 9 years, which included 6 years as the chairman of the Banks audit committee. He is an Irish national and a Qualified Chartered Accountant.
Keith Corbin
Non-Executive Director
Principal and executive chairman of Nerine International Holdings Limited, a network of trust and fiduciary services companies with operations in Guernsey, British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, India, and Switzerland and serves as a director of a number of regulated financial services companies. He is also the senior independent non-executive director of HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited, a FTSE 250 company. Keith is an Associate of Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) and a Member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
Peter Cornell
Senior Independent Director
Peter is a founding partner of Metric Capital, a pan-European special situations fund. He is a non-executive Director of F&C Commercial Property Trust Limited and a member of the International Advisory Board of the Madrid Business School. Previously he was Global Managing Partner of Clifford Chance until 2006. During his 36 year tenure with Clifford Chance his roles included managing partner for Spain and Continental Europe. He then became managing director of Terra Firma, a European private equity firm until 2011. Peter holds a BA (Hons) in Economics and History.
Colin Kingsnorth
Non-Executive Director
Colin is a partner and director of Laxey Partners Limited, a UK-based active value investment firm focusing on closed-end funds and property investments. Colin previously worked for Robert Fleming Asset Management, headed the investment trust research at Olliff & Partners and managed the emerging markets fund of Buchanan Partners Limited. In 1995, Colin co-founded Regent Kingpin Capital Management. In 1997, he founded Laxey Partners Ltd with Andrew Pegge. Since then Laxey Partners Ltd has become a prominent active value investor focusing on closed-end funds and property investments. Colin holds a BSc in Economics and is a CFA Charterholder.
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John Herring
Chairman
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Trevor Bowen
Non-Executive Director
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Keith Corbin
Non-Executive Director
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Peter Cornell
Senior Independent Director
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Colin Kingsnorth
Non-Executive Director
Financial calendar
Company Details
CEIBA Investments Limited
Registered Office:
Dorey Court,
Admiral Park,
St Peter Port
Guernsey
GY1 2HT
The Company was incorporated in Guernsey as a non-cellular company limited by shares on 10 October 1995 under registration number 30083. It was admitted to the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on 22 October 2018.
The Company is a Registered Closed-ended Collective Scheme pursuant to The Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended, and the Registered Collective Investment Schemes Rules 2015 issued by the Commission. The Company operates under the Companies Law and ordinances and regulations made thereunder.
The Company is a country fund with a primary focus on Cuban real estate assets.
The Company will seek to deliver the investment objective primarily through investment in, and management of, a portfolio of Cuban real estate assets, with a focus on the tourism-related and commercial property sectors. Cuban real estate assets may also include infrastructure, industrial, retail, logistics, residential and mixed-use assets (including development projects). The Company may also invest in any type of financial instrument or facility secured by Cuba related cash flows or other receivables.
In addition, subject to the investment restrictions set out below, the Company may invest in other Cuba-related businesses, where such are considered by the Investment Manager to be complementary to the Company’s core portfolio (“Other Cuban Assets”). Other Cuban Assets may include, but are not limited to, Cuba related businesses in the construction or construction supply, logistics, energy, technology, and light or heavy industrial sectors.
Investments may be made through equity, debt or a combination of both.